


Charade

by Tenshinrtaiga



Series: The Mask Series [2]
Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-28
Updated: 2012-04-02
Packaged: 2017-11-02 15:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenshinrtaiga/pseuds/Tenshinrtaiga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to MASQUERADE. Caroline is tired of the back and forth going on between her and Damon. She’s tired of their charade of a relationship and being second to Elena. Mostly, she’s tired of feeling his love for her best friend all the time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Caroline rushed out of her last class and sprinted out the doors. She was speeding through the courtyard like dogs were chasing her. She heard someone call her name, but ignored it. She needed answers and she needed them now.

She had been sitting in her Government class, minding her own business when she was suddenly hit with intense lust. She wasn’t looking at anybody, she wasn’t particularly thinking of anything, so where the crap had that come from? Just as she asked herself that question, the answer came: Damon.

Ever since she had turned, she had begun feeling a deep psychic connection to him. At first she thought that she was just getting better at reading him. It was a plausible theory since they had been spending more time together now than they had since they were dating. However, reading his body language didn’t account for sudden bursts of emotion or thoughts that definitely weren’t hers. Lately, however, things had been getting even worse. She was worried about what this connection was and why it kept growing.

So, she was on her way to talk to the one person she could ask these questions: Katherine. Caroline had been visiting Katherine every once in a while; usually with questions, but sometimes just to listen to her talk. It’s not that Caroline liked Katherine- the crazy bitch killed her! But, Katherine did make her, sort of. And Caroline could ask her questions about how she had lived her un-life. Caroline had asked these questions to Stefan before and his answers… were typical Stefan. She would have asked Damon, but she knew that he wouldn’t really have the patience to answer them… not unless it benefited him in some way.

Katherine had no where to go and nothing to do. So, once a week Caroline visited. In exchange for a cup of blood- enough to keep her from desiccating, but not enough to make her strong- Katherine spoke. She spoke about her human life, her turning, how she learned to be a vampire, how she spent her centuries, Stefan and Damon, Mystic Falls and laying low. Caroline was sure she wasn’t receiving the full story, but at the same time she was sure that she wasn’t being lied to.

Caroline had just made it to her car, her keys turning when she heard her name being called again, this time from right behind her. Whirling around, Caroline glared at Elena, “What? Can’t you see I’m in a rush?”

Blinking in surprise at having her head bit off, Elena held out a notebook, “You forgot this in Government.”

The blonde reached out and snatched the book, “Thanks,” She bit out before throwing herself into her car and slamming the door shut. She peeled out of the parking space leaving behind a bewildered Elena.

The worried brunette spotted Stefan and Damon both looking at her a few parking spaces over. They had clearly been talking about something when they had been distracted by the little interaction between the two females. She made her way to them, “Do you guys know what’s been up with Caroline?”

Damon raised an eyebrow, “Why would I know what’s up with Barbie?”

Elena purposely ignored his response and turned to look expectantly at Stefan. Stefan hesitated, looking for the right words before he spoke, “What makes you think something’s wrong?” The girl raised an incredulous eyebrow in response before gesturing at where she and Caroline had just fought, “Right.” Clearly Stefan hadn’t thought that remark through, “What I meant was, maybe she’s having a bad day. I don’t think there’s anything wrong.”

Elena crossed her arms, “Caroline has been acting weird for weeks now. She’s been edgy, mean and defensive. I know what she’s like when she’s hiding something and she is definitely hiding something.”

“What makes you think we know what she’s hiding?” Damon asked, curious to hear the response. He knew that no one was aware of his… relationship with the blonde so he was interested to hear why Elena thought he would know what was bothering Caroline.

“I assumed that whatever she was hiding involved her being a vampire,” the brunette stated bluntly, “What else would she have to hide?”

“Maybe she has a boyfriend,” Damon suggested causing Stefan to roll his eyes. Stefan knew about Damon and Caroline’s… whatever (relationship?) and found it worrisome to say the least.

“Caroline would announce it to the world if she had a boyfriend,” Elena responded before looking at Damon oddly when he smirked in amusement, “Besides, if she had a boyfriend, she’d be acting happy and giddy. Whatever she’s hiding, she knows that I won’t like it,” She seemed to be thinking out loud now. Her eyes unfocused as she thought before she turned to face Stefan, “I want to follow her. Can you tell where she’s going?”

Stefan looked at her oddly, “I’m not a bloodhound. If you want to know where she is, you’d be better off asking Damon.”

Raising an inquisitive eyebrow, Elena turned to look at the older brother who stood leaning on the hood of his blue mustang inspecting his cuticles. He looked up in fake surprise, “Sorry, what?”

Elena rolled her eyes, “Why do you know where Caroline is and can you take me and Stefan to her?”

Damon pondered this idea as he debated whether he wanted to tell her the truth. Stefan meanwhile wondered how he wound up going with Elena. He was sure Caroline was fine and that whatever she was doing was a. not dangerous, b. a secret and thus c. none of his business. He sighed, he loved Elena but he really wished she would learn the meaning of the word privacy. Not everything in the world was her business.

Finally, Damon responded with a half-truth, one he could safely say in front of his brother, “I made Caroline. I can always tell where she is.”

Crossing her arms, Elena thrust her hip out defensively as if unsure whether he was telling her the truth, “Then where is she?”

Damon rolled his eyes, “It’s not like I know she’s at Starbucks drinking a Dark Cherry Mocha. It’s more like left or right, hot or cold.” Elena noticed that Stefan wasn’t contradicting his brother, so she nodded and moved around to the other side of the car, earning twin confused looks from the boys “What are you doing?” Damon asked.

“I told you. I want to know what she’s doing,” the brunette climbed into the car before looking up at the two of them in annoyance, “Well?”

Stefan sighed and turned to look at his brother. They exchanged a few silently worded glances that basically translated to ‘You’re the one dating her’ and ‘You’re the one who will agree.’

The two climbed into the car and took off, heading toward the forest. After a few minutes, it became easy to tell where they were heading.

“The tomb? Why would Caroline be heading there?” Elena asked worriedly.

Damon exchanged a look with Stefan through the rearview mirror- Katherine, “I don’t know,” he said instead. They parked and made their way to the tomb. Just as Elena was about to go in, Damon grabbed her arm to stop her, “Don’t make a sound. She has vampire hearing so she’ll hear you if you say anything or even breathe too loudly. If you’re quiet and if she’s busy, she shouldn’t be able to hear your heartbeat. We’ll stay on the stairs and listen. That’s all.”

Elena grit her teeth and glared at Damon’s all-mighty attitude, but a glance at Stefan showed that her boyfriend agreed, so she seethed but nodded.

Together, the trio crept down the stairs until they were hidden behind the curve of the stone wall while still being able to peak over to see what was going on. Elena barely stifled a gasp as she saw Caroline talking to Katherine.

“So, what question do you have for me today, little fledgling?” Katherine teased once she finished gulping down the cup of blood.

Caroline crossed her legs and sat on the ground in front of where Katherine lay in the doorway of the tomb. She hesitated as she mentally thought about how to approach the subject and whether she even should. Finally, she spit it out, “Damon and I… have a connection.”

Elena’s eyes widened and they turned to look at Damon who looked unsurprised at the blonde’s words. Stefan also looked at his brother curiously, but un-shocked.

“Oh?” Katherine taunted, raising an eyebrow as she tossed her empty plastic cup for Caroline to dispose of later. It wouldn’t be good if anyone found evidence of Caroline helping Katherine.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline responded, “Not like that. I’m not talking about some sort of fluffy, love connection,” Katherine smirked at the blonde in amusement, “I know what he’s going to do before he does it. I know how he feels, even when he doesn’t show that he feels anything at all. I can close my eyes and know what he’s thinking. When he gets up, I know he’s going for the whiskey. When his eyes narrow, I know he’s thinking up a plan. And it’s only been getting worse. Lately, when I sleep… I dream of him. Only they’re not dreams. It’s like I am him and I think his thoughts and I feel his feelings. And then I wake up and it takes me a few seconds to remember that I’m Caroline.”

Katherine hummed in interest as she took in the scared look on Caroline’s face. On the stairs, Elena tried to keep herself from hyperventilating at her friend’s words and even Stefan’s eyebrows were raised in shock. Damon, however, was calm and merely thoughtful as he absorbed her words. He knew the connection was stronger for her than it was for him, but to hear exactly what she was feeling from her own words… it was disconcerting to say the least.

“Is it because his blood is what turned me?” Caroline asked hesitantly after waiting several minutes for Katherine to respond.

“Do you think that’s the reason?” the woman responded in kind, as if genuinely curious as to what the blonde thought.

“No,” She answered easily, “If this was what happened, Damon and Stefan would have known you weren’t in the tomb. They would have felt your pain; felt you desiccate.”

A smirk graced the brunette’s lips, “Correct.” Katherine paused as she continued to scrutinize Caroline, “Some emotions and thoughts are common enough in maker bonds. The reason you feel him so strongly- and make no mistake; he feels you just as strongly as you do him- is because he compelled you.”

Elena and Stefan’s heads both whipped to face Damon, trying to get a read on his expression as to whether Katherine’s words were true and he felt Caroline’s emotions and thoughts. Damon’s blank expression was just as telling as it would be if he had said yes.

“But you compelled Damon and Stefan before you turned them,” Caroline argued, easily finding the flaw in Katherine’s logic.

The brunette sighed, finally tearing her eyes away from the intense inspection it had been giving Caroline since she brought up her bond, “I only lightly compelled them. Damon got in too deep with you. He mixed both of your minds too intensely and now it’s stuck.”

Stefan and Damon’s eyes widened as they recognized her words and realized what they meant… but, it was only supposed to be a legend…

“What does that mean?” Caroline cried out, even more scared than she was before, “Our minds are stuck together?!”

Katherine rolled her eyes at the shriek, “Don’t be absurd. Minds can’t stick together.”

“But you just said-“

Caroline was cut off, “I meant he left too much of an impression. When you compel someone, you are forcing your will, your thoughts and your emotions onto the other person. When someone is compelled by the same person too often, it can create a temporary bond. It allows them to form a special connection.”

Caroline stopped to think about this, “Stefan locked Damon up in the basement once. Damon called to me, even though I was on the other side of town. I was working at the school car wash and suddenly I felt the urge to go to the Boarding House. I knew that Damon needed my help.”

Elena’s eyes widened as she heard her friends words. She remembered Damon’s escape; the chaos it caused… Vicky. To know that her friend was involved and Elena never even knew…

The brunette vampire smirked in victory, “The bond is temporary. Damon should have stopped compelling you after that and allowed the bond to waste away… but he didn’t, did he?”

Caroline shook her head, curls flying, “He needed me to throw a party… and later, to use the vampire compass.”

“By continuing to compel you, he was strengthening the bond. He was overlaying his mind with yours completely. When a vampire falls in love with a mortal, they sometimes do this.”

“Compel them over and over again?” She asked incredulously.

Katherine rolled her eyes. Sometimes Caroline could be incredibly clever and sometimes… “No, overlay their minds. It’s like compelling but without giving commands. By overlaying your minds, it ensures that bits of him are mixed into you and bits of you are mixed into him. That, combined with your maker bond equals you panicking at my doorstep. The bond gives a bit of empathy between the two of you, but when you add in the overlay, it’s twice as strong.”

Caroline processed Katherine’s words but avoided thinking too hard on them, knowing that if she did, she would freak out. Instead she focused on something the brunette said earlier, “If it’s usually done when a vampire is in love with a human, why didn’t you do it to Stefan? I know you love him.”

Elena flinched at her friend’s blatant recognition of her enemy’s feelings for her boyfriend. Stefan put a soothing hand on her back as if to reassure her that Katherine’s feelings were not his own and she allowed herself to take comfort in that.

Katherine blinked, but allowed the subject to digress, “I considered it, but… do you really think I am capable of staying with one person for eternity? I love Stefan and I know that one day, we will have again what we had before, but eternity is a very long time. Everyone gets sick of the same person eventually. That’s the problem with the overlay.”

The blonde swallowed hard, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, “Is there no way to reverse it?” She choked out.

Damon perked up, intently listening for the answer, but for once, Katherine looked at someone in pity, “No. The bond, once complete, is completely irreversible. Damon will be the one person you know best and you will be the one person he knows best. Distance can help. If you don’t see him get up then you won’t know he‘s going for the alcohol,” Katherine explained using Caroline’s old example, “But you’ll always feel intense emotions. If he’s injured, you’ll know. If he’s angry, you’ll know. If he’s in love -“

“I’ll know. I got it, thanks,” Caroline tried half-heartedly to sneer.

“Rumor is that with enough practice, you’ll be able to talk to each other,” Katherine shrugged as if this was an up-side, “Not just fuzzy pictures or emotions, but actual conversations,” She clarified.

But Caroline clearly wasn’t paying attention as her eyes focused above the tomb doorway. She was still trying to mentally digest the information she had been given. She still mentally tucked that bit of information away to ponder later, but it didn’t exactly rank on her priority list.

Pouting at being ignored, Katherine spoke, “So, have you and Damon had sex yet?”

Head whipping to face Katherine, Caroline blinked in shock, “What?” In the stairway, Elena too stiffened in shock as her jaw dropped open. Stefan silently shook his head as he realized things were about to get even messier. He wasn’t even sure how that was possible, but it appeared to be the story of his life.

“Bonded sex is supposed to be quite spectacular,” Katherine purred, satisfied at once again being the center of attention, “Twice the pleasure since you’ll be feeling it from your side and his. Did it not… rock your world?” She taunted with a teasing pout.

Damon stiffened as his sexual prowess came into question. He resisted the urge to expose his hiding place to yell at Katherine, but reigned in his temper in favor of hearing what Caroline had to say.

Caroline blinked at the small surge of anger she felt, presumably from Damon since she wasn’t feeling particularly angry at the moment. Her mind began to work in overtime at the suspicious coincidence of him getting angry right as Katherine insulted him…

“Damon’s great in bed. He was great when I was human and his vamp sex is even better. But no, there was no double pleasure,” Caroline answered carefully, testing her theory. She barely contained her gasp of shock when she felt a swell of pride that was definitely not her own and realized that Damon was eavesdropping on her conversation. Annoyed, but not upset, Caroline vowed to yell at him later. They were talking about him, so she could hardly be upset if he listened in.

Elena froze in complete shock. Caroline and Damon slept together after Caroline was turned? How… she turned to look at Stefan to see his reaction. Elena’s eyes narrowed as she realized he had been looking at her to see her own reaction. Stefan was unsurprised; he had already known.

Katherine hummed in thought, “Maybe it’s just a myth,” She shrugged, “Overlay bonds aren’t exactly common. Most of the known information is just rumor. Still, it would have made sense…” She spoke the last part mostly to herself before her attention once again focused on the blonde, “Did you try and activate the bond while you were having sex?”

Caroline’s eyebrow raised, “One- I only just found out what the connection really is. Two- Even if I did know what it was, I have no idea how to control it, let alone activate it. Three- When would I have done this anyway? Between my second and third orgasm?”

Now that Caroline knew what to look for, she was able to detect Damon’s smugness again. Hopefully, with enough practice, she would be able to fully sort out his emotions from hers.

“Well, if you have vampire sex questions, there’s only one person you can ask,” Katherine smirked, “Nikita.”

“Who?” Caroline asked in confusion.

“Ask Damon,” the brunette vampire looked positively gleeful, “You do know…”

Caroline let her eyebrow rise, “That he’s eavesdropping? Yeah, I figured it out.” She stood up and in a flash, she was at the stairs. Her eyes widened when instead of finding Damon alone, she found him with Stefan and more importantly Elena.


	2. Chapter 2

Caroline turned to glare at Stefan, “How could you have brought her here?” She scowled as she crossed her arms and pouted angrily.

“Me?” He asked incredulously, turning to look at his brother.

Caroline followed his gaze to Damon who gave an unapologetic shrug with a smirk on his lips. She rolled her eyes and focused again on Stefan, “I expect Damon to totally screw up my plans. You are the good one. You are my friend. And when I ask my friend to make sure Elena-“

“To make sure Elena what?” said girl asked huffily, crossing her arms in anger.

“Technically, you asked me not to tell Elena,” Stefan argued, ignoring his girlfriend for a moment, “And technically, you only asked me not to tell her about the first time you and Damon hooked up.”

“Wait, there were multiple times?” Elena looked at the two vampires in question with surprise. Once again, she was ignored.

“You know what I meant!” Caroline cried about, throwing her hands up in frustration, “I didn’t want Elena finding out!”

Now Damon was scowling, “And why exactly not?”

Caroline eyed him incredulously, “Oh, please,” She scoffed.

Stefan turned to look at his brother, “Matt,” He said softly as though saying it quietly would help soften Caroline’s ache. The blonde sighed lightly but her face didn’t change in sadness and she didn’t say anything.

“Matt?” Elena asked in confusion, tired of being left out of the conversation.

“Caroline didn’t want you to know because the first time she slept with Damon, she was still with Matt,” Katherine called out from where she’d been avidly eavesdropping inside the tomb.

All three of the others turned to look at the trapped vampire in surprise, having forgotten she was even there. “How did you know that?” Caroline asked, shocked that Katherine had known that piece of information.

“After you asked me those questions about vampire sex,” Katherine leered slightly as Caroline turned bright red and Stefan and Damon both looked at the blonde with a raised brow, “I got curious as to exactly how close you and Damon are. I admit, I was surprised. I never figured you’d get back together with him.”

“We’re not together,” Damon and Caroline spoke simultaneously as they also moved a step away from each other.

Katherine rolled her eyes before looking at Caroline pointedly, “The world is small and eternity is long,” She reminded.

When you live long enough, everything comes around twice, Caroline filled in the rest of Katherine’s words from her memory. The blonde hesitated, easily understanding the vampire’s message. Katherine believed that she and Stefan would get a second chance at their relationship. Katherine also apparently believed the same of Caroline and Damon.

“Not if I don’t want it to,” She replied stubbornly, ignoring the confused looks of her friends.

The brunette vampire smirked, “If you didn’t want it, you wouldn’t have gotten back into bed with him,” She challenged.

Once again, Caroline was left hesitating. Was Katherine right? Caroline had soothed herself with the fact that Damon was merely a distraction and a way of comforting herself when upset. She knew that lately she had been feeling conflicting emotions as she was reminded of the duality that warred within her. Sometimes she couldn’t stand Damon and sometimes she couldn’t help but want to help and comfort him.

The recent emotions bleeding through from his side of the bond wasn’t helping her any either.

“Who is Nikita?” Caroline asked instead, adding the current topic to her long list of things to ponder later while in the comfort and solitude of her own home.

Knowing what Caroline was doing, Katherine let the topic go easily. Caroline had been coming to visit her for weeks. When the baby vamp was ready, she’d come back to talk her thoughts out. “An old friend of Damon’s,” She smiled looking at said vampire.

“How do you know that?” He asked suspiciously.

The woman shrugged, “You spent the last 150 years trailing after your brother. I ended up watching you every once and a while as I kept track of Stefan.” Damon’s jaw clenched at the constant reminder that he was always an after-thought when it came to Katherine and his brother. Smiling at his reaction, the brunette vampire continued, “She’s very old and very clever.” Katherine let out a laugh of genuine delight, “And she’s very interested in sex.”

Damon couldn’t help but let out a snort of amusement. This was true.

“Nikita?” Stefan asked in confusion. He had thought he knew all of Damon’s friends.

“Kali,” Damon turned slightly to explain to his brother. When Stefan nodded in recognition of the name, Damon turned back to Katherine, “Why do you want Caroline to get Nikki? You wouldn’t happen to be planning something, would you?”

The brunette vampire smiled, attempting to look innocent. It wasn’t working. “Caroline came to me for advice,” She reminded them, “I was just pointing her in the right direction. You know that Nikita’s the only one who can help,” She looked at Damon pointedly.

He scowled because he knew she was right, “Time to go,” He growled, leaning over to return the door to the tomb, ignoring Katherine’s satisfied smirk at having gotten to him.

“I’ll see you soon, Caroline,” She shouted before the door was slammed shut in her face.

“What were you thinking?” Damon growled, turning to the blonde vampire, “Asking Katherine?”

“You weren’t telling me anything!” Caroline replied defensively, “For all I knew it was normal.”

“Why didn’t you ask me?” Stefan asked broodingly.

She shifted uncomfortably, before throwing her head up stubbornly, “Sure, Stefan. Next time we go hunting, I’ll tell you all about my sex life with your brother and the weird emotional connection we share,” Seeing Stefan wince, she smirked vindictively, “And then we can braid each other’s hair and paint our nails together.”

Damon let out a bark of laughter, laying a pleased hand on her shoulder. The two shared an amused grin before turning back to see the combined raised eyebrows of Elena and Stefan.

“What?” They asked at the same time before turning to look at each other oddly. Once again, they awkwardly separated; the reminder of their odd bond blatant.

“So, what exactly is going on?” Elena asked having been completely confused by the conversation going on around her.

Stefan turned to look at Caroline expectantly. The girl pouted but answered anyway, “Damon and I slept together. Yes, I was still with Matt, but it was after I attacked him and had decided to break up with him. Personally, I blame the overly emotional vampire thing. One minute, Damon was pissing me off, the next I wanted to fuck him,” She shrugged carelessly, ignoring Stefan’s grimace of over-share. “After that, I dunno. We hung out. Sort of,” she state uneasily, uncomfortable implying anything involving the word friendship.

“And then we fucked some more,” Damon interjected with a smirk, also avoiding the touchy-feely crap that Caroline had been hinting at.

Stefan reached a hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose. He had not wanted to know any of this. Caroline was his friend and Damon was his brother and… just no. Elena on the other hand was even more confused. She had thought after what happened last year Caroline wouldn’t ever get back with Damon. “Okay,” She said slowly, “And what’s this about a bond?”

Now Damon was the one to grimace, “Yeah, that’s complicated.” He turned to face Caroline, “As much as I hate to admit the bitch is right, Nikki would be our best bet to figuring this thing out.”

“Who is she?” the blonde asked.

“An old friend of Lexi’s,” Stefan was the one to answer.

Damon nodded, “I honestly never understood how they were friends. Nikki is awesome and Lexi was a downer.”

“Are we talking about the same girl?” Elena asked incredulously, remembering the 350 year old fun loving vampire.

“This tall,” He held out a hand to his chest, “Long blonde hair, hated killing and got Stefan on the animal diet? Yeah, that’s her.”

The younger brother explained tactfully, “Nikita is… a lot like Damon. She loves to party and drink and talk me into stupid stuff,” his eyes glazed as he clearly looked back on a particular memory, “But she’s also dangerous, cruel, petty and easy to anger. She never feels guilty, doesn’t believe in second chances and doesn’t know the meaning of the word remorse.”

Elena and Caroline bother shifted in fear at his description, “And she’s your friend?” Elena asked incredulously.

Stefan shrugged and turned to look at his brother. Damon gave a small sigh, but explained, “More my friend than Stefan’s, but yeah. She’s pretty awesome ninety percent of the time. The other ten percent is when she’s angry. So if you want to live, don’t anger her,” He smiled back belligerently.

With a huff at his useless advice, Elena turned on her heel and left the tomb. The other three followed her back to Damon’s car which was parked next to Caroline’s Fiesta, “You guys go ahead. I’ll ride with Care,” Elena smiled forcefully as she climbed into the car. Caroline hesitated, easily seeing that Elena wanted to talk – or more likely lecture – alone.

“What’s going on with you, Caroline?” Elena asks the moment they hit the highway.

“What do you mean?” she responds defensively.

“Damon? Katherine? This bond? Why didn’t you tell me?” the brunette asked, reaching a hand out to clasp her friend’s.

Caroline felt her lip wobble. If there was one thing Elena was good at it was a guilt trip, “Everything was just so messed up. I didn’t think you’d understand.” I didn’t want you to understand.

“You can tell me anything, Caroline. You know that. You’re one of my best friends,” Elena reasoned, “So talk to me.”

With a shaky sigh, the vampire pulls over to the side of the road and turns to face Elena, “I attacked Matt. I wanted to kill him. I asked Stefan for advice and even though he didn’t say it because he knew it would make him a hypocrite, I knew he thought I should break up with Matt. Then I talked to Damon and he told me the same thing. I got angry. God, Elena, I was so mad. I attacked him.”

“Matt?” Elena asked a little confused, but still avidly listening.

Caroline shook her head, curls flying everywhere, “Damon. He was actually being nice… or as nice as he gets,” she grinned slightly when Elena nodded in agreement, “But I was just so angry. Even though I knew it was true, I didn’t want to hear that I couldn’t be with a human and to have Damon be the one to say it…? So I attacked him. He beat me pretty easily,” She admitted sheepishly, “But somewhere in the fight I… I dunno. I mean, he’s gorgeous,” She tried to justify her actions but the truth is she still wasn’t sure how things with Damon had progressed, “I just… wanted him.”

The brunette bit her lip. She was trying to understand but at the same time she understood perfectly. There was something about Damon. Even when you hated his guts, you couldn’t help but love him too.

“After that… stuff happened, you know? Katherine, my mom, Katherine again. We just… got closer.”

“That’s what I don’t get,” Elena spoke up, “After what he did to you last year, I never thought you’d forgive him.”

Caroline hesitated, unsure how to answer. She wasn’t entirely sure that she forgave him either. “A lot of the stuff I was mad about, I can’t be mad about anymore because I get it. I’m a vampire too now and I’ve compelled people to forget when I bite them. And the other stuff I was mad about… I was just confused. I didn’t understand. I thought I was being compelled to-“ She cut herself off unwilling to confess that she had thought that Damon had compelled her to love him only to find out that she loved him all on her own, “The point is, I’m not angry anymore. I’m not sure that translates into forgiveness, but I’m not upset.”

“So you became friends.”

Caroline made a face like ‘what the fuck?’ causing Elena to laugh, “Uhm, no. I wouldn’t go that far. I think we just understand each other better. Which I think probably comes from the bond.”

“Right, the bond,” Elena prodded gently.

The blonde sighed. She really didn’t want to talk about this when she still hadn’t finished processing it, but Elena was like a dog with a bone. She always had to know everything that was going on. “Well, you heard Katherine’s explanation. Because he compelled me so much as a human, as a vampire, our minds are connected.”

“You said that you were dreaming of him,” Elena pointed out hesitantly, sounding worried, “That it took you a while to even remember who you were.”

The vampire nibbled on her lip worryingly, “Yeah. It’s weird. And scary,” she admitted softly, “Sometimes, I get this… feeling. I guess like Bonnie and her psychic witch stuff, only it’s just with Damon. Sometimes, I know stuff about him; stuff he’s thinking or feeling or going to do before he does it. And then lately I’ve been having these dreams and I think they’re of the things he’s doing. Like I’m inside his head,” she confessed, feeling tears begin to well up in her eyes.

“Caroline,” Elena muttered, reaching over to pull her friend into a hug, “You can tell me anything. Always. You shouldn’t have to go through this alone. You aren’t going to go through this alone.”

Caroline gave a wobbly smile into the brunette’s shoulder because for all of Elena’s pushy need to know everyone’s business, it was only because she cared about everyone. The need to know other people’s problems came from her need to help take away other people’s pain. And there was nothing Caroline needed more right now than for someone to come and take it all away.


	3. Chapter 3

“What’s this I hear about you and Damon?” Bonnie asked the minute Caroline got to school.

Caroline heaved a sigh. She really should have known better than to hope that Elena would keep her mouth shut. This was why she hadn’t wanted to tell the girl in the first place. “I’m sure Elena gave you the play by play.”

“So, it’s true?” the witch asked incredulously, “Caroline…”

“Look,” the blonde whirled around, getting annoyed, “It’s complicated and confusing and I’m tired of talking about it, okay? So, please, just get off my back!”

Bonnie stared at her friend for a second in contemplation before reluctantly nodding, “Okay, I’m sorry. I just don’t get it.”

“Join the club,” Caroline muttered sarcastically before slamming her locker shut and making her way toward homeroom, leaving Bonnie behind. She was just about to cross the second floor hall when her eyes widened in surprise and she turned on her heel to go the opposite direction. She would gladly go the long way around the school to reach homeroom if it meant avoiding Tyler Lockwood. Unfortunately, Tyler didn’t get the memo.

“Caroline!” He yelled out, reaching her quickly.

“Tyler!” She smiled falsely, turning to face him as though she hadn’t just been trying to run away from him, “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” He asked incredulously, “Why are you avoiding me? I thought we were good now that I know about your,” he looked around cautiously, “Vampire thing,” he whispered.

“I’m not avoiding you,” Caroline said, her voice a bit too high, “I’m just on my way to homeroom. Bye!” She yelled over her shoulder as she ran towards the classroom. If Damon found out that she had told Tyler the truth… She shuddered. He really would stake her this time.  
~~~  
“What are you up to?” Damon sneered as he stared down at the dusty form of his ex.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Katherine smirked, the blood from Caroline’s visit yesterday still keeping her strong.

He crouched down so that he was eye level with her, “You think I don’t know when you’re up to something? Nikki? She’s your best friend.”

“Would you really begrudge me some company?” Katherine asked innocently, looking up at him with doe eyes. For a second, she looked exactly like Elena; all brown eyes and innocence.

Damon wasn’t fooled.

“You think she’s going to help you get out of the tomb?” He questioned, ignoring her mind games, “She’s just as self-serving as you are. There’s no way she’s going to risk getting stuck in here like you.” Katherine just hummed in response, not giving any sort of solid answer to Damon. “Answer me, damn it!” he spat angrily.

“Does it matter if I have a plan or not?” Katherine asked simply, “You need her. You have no idea what to do about the bond and you can’t do anything without her.”

“I could figure it out on my own,” Damon said, well aware that he was lying through his teeth. The truth was, Nikita was very old and very powerful. He had no way of matching her smarts. She really was the only option he had. Judging by Katherine’s laughter, she knew that as well.

He growled angrily at his ex’s mocking laughter when suddenly he felt a shiver of anxiety and surprise along with a random thought: Tyler Lockwood.

Damn it, it must be from Caroline’s side of the bond, he thought distractedly, didn’t I tell her to stay away from that punk?

“Problem?” Katherine purred.

Damon sneered down at the brunette, “Yeah. Your new BFF Caroline doesn’t do what she’s told. You’d think a vampire would have enough sense to stay away from a werewolf,” He thought out loud, mostly to himself, “I’m going to kill that girl.”

Katherine laughed once more, “No, you won’t.”

“Try me,” Damon sneered back. Okay, no, he probably wouldn’t kill Caroline over seeing the Lockwood kid, but Katherine didn’t need to know that. Let her live in fear of him taking away the only company she had down here as she rotted away.

“We all make allowances for those with whom we share a vampiric connection,” Katherine smirked, “Just look at us.”

“I want to kill you,” Damon smiled back unkindly.

“And yet you never have,” She returned vindictively.

Damon’s smile faltered at her words. It was true. He talked about killing her; thought about killing her, but when the time came to perform, he and Stefan chickened out. He had pouted about it, but he could have pushed Stefan’s decision to lock her in the tomb. With a little persuasion, his brother would have agreed to drive a stake through the woman’s heart. But Damon hadn’t tried. So, maybe there was something to her words after all because as much as Vampire Barbie got on his nerves, he never wanted to see her dead and maybe that was the bond talking but that didn't make it untrue.

With nothing left to say, Damon slid the large stone door back into place and sped out of the tomb, eager to escape Katherine’s manipulative reaches.  
~~~  
“Hey, so you and Damon, huh?” Jeremy asked as he passed Caroline on the street, “Thought he like, abused you, when you were together.”

“Don’t want to talk about it!” Caroline growled as she walked in the opposite direction, well used to the question by now. Apparently, Elena had blabbed it all over town because first Bonnie, then Ric and now Jeremy had all been talking about it. Didn’t Elena have a boyfriend she could be entertaining herself with instead of gossiping all of Caroline’s secrets? And Stefan’s sympathetic looks all day did not help one bit.

With a groan, she collapsed into one of the bar stools at the Grill and ordered a shot of whatever the strongest thing they had was. It took a lot to get a vampire drunk and she needed oblivion tonight.

Somewhere between her fifth and sixth drink, she became aware of a presence sitting next to her. “What are you doing here?” She asked in a whiney voice before slowly sipping her sixth drink.

“Well, in case this has escaped your notice, it is night time and this is the only bar for miles. I pretty much live here,” Damon smirked, fully acknowledging his drinking problem, “What are you doing here?”

“Elena’s nosy. She always has to know everybody’s business,” Caroline slurred as she took a sip of whatever it was the bartender had put in front of her, “It’s not her fault. It’s because she genuinely thinks she deserves to know. Elena thinks she’s the center of the universe. I could go on a killing spree tomorrow and she would find some way to bring the drama back to her.”

“Why are you friends with her if you hate her so much?” Damon asked, genuinely curious at the odd dynamic between her, Elena and Bonnie.

“Just because I don’t think she hung the moon doesn’t mean I don’t love her. I mean, I’m shallow, Bonnie’s judgmental and Elena’s self-centered, but we’re friends because we see past those flaws. If you love someone, you accept them- all of them. People who think their girlfriend or boyfriend is perfect are stupid. They’re blind. No one is perfect and if you can’t see their flaws then you can’t see who they really are. If you can’t see who they are then how can you say you love them?”

Damon stared at the blonde impassively for several moments before finally speaking, “How, indeed.”

Caroline pouted for a moment, “This wasn’t what I was talking about.”

“Right. Elena’s nosy,” he said with faux seriousness, “Continue.”

“She told the entire town about us, you know?” the blonde pouted, finishing her seventh drink, “I got ambushed by Bonnie, Alaric and Jeremy!”

Damon’s brow furrowed in annoyance, “Well, that’s not very cool,” he spoke aloud, wondering if he should be expecting any ambushes of his own when he got home. Probably.

“I know! Elena’s need to know everyone’s business wouldn’t be as annoying if she could just keep her mouth shut!”

He raised an amused eyebrow, “You gossip too. You are the queen of gossip.”

“Yeah, stupid stuff,” She admitted, “High school stuff. Not best friend secrets or secret secrets,” She said discretely, still coherent enough not to say the word ‘vampire’ in a crowded bar in Mystic Falls.

Damon paused to ponder this for a moment. This was pretty true. Blondie may not be very good at hiding things, but she knew when to keep her mouth shut. Huh. He’d never noticed that before.

Watching as she swallowed her eighth drink, Damon finished off his bourbon and stood up, “Alright, Blondie. I think you’ve had enough for tonight. Let’s get you home.”

Caroline pouted, but easily went with him. When she managed to trip over the one crack in the entire bar, Damon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and helped lead her back to his car. He thought about returning her to her house, but he had no way of knowing if Liz was there and he’d rather not put an intoxicated vampire in the same room with her vampire hunting mother. It just made for good common sense.

With a sigh, he drove back to the Boarding House. At this rate, Barbie might as well move in. She was there more often than Elena.


	4. Chapter 4

“Come on, Care. You can’t still be mad,” Elena said in exasperation, “It was weeks ago.”

“You had no right to tell everyone my – and Damon’s –” She added as an afterthought, “business!”

“I was just worried about you,” the brunette said softly, reaching a hand out to gently turn Caroline around so that she would finally face Elena, “Your bond with him… It’s dangerous. I just wanted to make sure that the others would look after you.”

Caroline sighed. This was why she had been avoiding Elena for the last few weeks. She knew that the moment she sat down to talk to the other girl, Elena would pull out some reasonable, justifiable and totally acceptable excuse. Elena frequently did the wrong thing, but she always did it with the right intentions.

“I know,” Caroline finally admitted, giving in, “I just didn’t want the others knowing about it. It’s complicated and confusing and to be honest, even we have no idea what’s going on with it. Damon’s called his friend Nikita, but she hasn’t shown up yet or even called back so we have no way of knowing if she’s even coming. I just wasn’t prepared to answer questions about it when I don’t even know the answers myself. And on top of that, Damon and I have a weird history and if I’m being honest, our relationship right now is still weird and I just can’t handle the inquisition.”

Elena wrapped her arms around the blonde who was starting to freak out a little bit, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel cornered. I swear, I only told the others so that they could keep an eye on you. I didn’t mean to cause you more problems.”

“I know,” Caroline replied into Elena’s hair as she too wrapped her arms around the other girl, “It’s not your fault. You were just trying to look out for me. I appreciate it. Especially since you’ve been going through so much lately.”

Elena pulled back and they both gave each other weak smiles, “I’ll always watch out for you,” she promised.

“Ditto,” the vampire grinned, “And speaking of you going through so much, we need to sit down and talk about all the stupid decisions you’ve been making that I haven’t had a chance to ream you out for because I’ve been avoiding you.”

Elena let out a small laugh, “Yeah, Bonnie said the same thing. Girls’ Night later?” She asked, “You guys can yell at me all you want.”

Caroline hesitated, “I have to meet Damon later and tell him about Tyler’s full moon last night, but other than that, I’m free.”

“That’s okay because I made plans to see Stefan later too. So, we’ll say 10?” Elena offered. Caroline nodded and left as Elena texted Bonnie the info.  
~~~  
“Damon!” Caroline called out, entering the Boarding House, “Let’s make this quick. I have-” She blinked in surprise as Rose and Damon appeared. Rose was wearing nothing but a red silk robe. A familiar robe actually since Caroline knew Damon kept that robe specifically so that… overnight guests… wouldn’t use his things.

Caroline felt an internal pang which she resolutely ignored. First off, Damon wasn’t her boyfriend. He was free to sleep with whoever he wanted and at least now she knew why she had been feeling sexy, lusty thoughts from him lately. She had just thought he’d been perving on Elena while Stefan was trapped inside the tomb. Second, she and Matt seemed to be heading back to a good place and that left no room for Damon problems anyway.

“Not now Caroline,” Damon scowled as he stared at Rose with concern, “Rose has been bitten.”

“By a werewolf?” She asked in surprise, immediately forgetting her internal thoughts, “But Tyler was locked up! I was with him all night, I swear!”

Damon turned to look at her and after a brief second, he nodded, “I believe you. It must have been that bitch, Jules. She said she’d ‘marked’ me. I guess now we know what that meant,” He said, looking down at the older vampire with regret.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Rose spoke wearily, “I’m not one to be pitied. Even on my deathbed.”

“You’re not dying,” he scowled, “Let’s get you into bed. I’ll grab you some blood bags. You’ll be healed by tomorrow.”

Rose smiled indulgently and followed along as Damon led her to his room. Caroline shifted awkwardly as she considered what to do before speeding to the basement to grab several blood bags. She sped back up to Damon’s room just as he was tucking the vampire into his bed. Caroline bit her lip. She hadn’t seen Damon this tender with very many people. In fact, the only people she could think of were herself and Elena.

“Here,” She whispered softly, unwilling to break the solemn mood. She held out the bags to Rose.

“Thank you,” Rose smiled as she bit into one.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Damon tossed over his shoulder at Caroline. The blonde hesitated for a moment but complied with Damon’s unsubtle hint. He clearly didn’t want anyone to see Rose like this and she could understand that. She wouldn’t want anyone watching her (maybe) die either. Caroline didn’t really do church and she also didn’t really know Rose but just the same, she sent up a little prayer just in case.

Damon walked into the den, totally nonchalant, “So how did Lockwood duty go?” He asked, totally ignoring what was going on with Rose. Caroline bit her lip and decided to give him this. He clearly needed a bit of a distraction and she knew Damon well enough to know that he was still worrying about Rose even when he didn’t show it. If her past dating experience with him didn’t give her enough insight to know that, the large curl of nerves in her stomach that she was sure belonged at least in half to Damon would have illustrated it just fine.

Just as Caroline was finishing up her tale, someone knocked on the door. Both vampires looked at each other in confusion. Everyone in their circle of friends knew by now to just come in. So, who else would come calling at 9 at night?

Damon looked out the small windows that framed the door before a large grin made its way across his face and he swung the front door wide open. “Well, look who finally deigned to show up,” Damon smirked pulling the tall woman into a hug, “Hello, Nikita.”

Caroline looked at the woman in surprise. This was the infamous Nikita? She looked to be about the same age as Damon – or to be more accurate, she looked like she was turned around the same age. She was obviously Indian with dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes. She was wearing dark blue jeans tucked into black boots and a black bra under a sheer white top. Her makeup consisted of a glossy bright pink lip, dark eyeliner and smoky eye shadow. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her hair long and curly.

Despite the fact that she looked like a normal person that Caroline might meet on the street, something about the girl screamed danger. Maybe it was the dark look in her eyes, similar to the look in Damon’s before he did something stupid. It was the jaded look of someone perfectly fine taking a life mixed with a sense of superiority over everyone else.

“I know, I know. I’m late,” the girl grinned letting go of Damon, “But I got distracted,” speaking of distracted, she noticed Caroline standing several steps away, “Hello,” She smiled at the blonde.

“Hi,” Caroline waved before internally hitting her forehead for making herself look like a dork.

Damon stood to the side to allow the two girls a clear view of each other, “Caroline, Nikita. Nikita this is Caroline,” he introduced.

“So, what’s this about?” Nikita asked suspicion mixing with curiosity.

“I need to ask you about the overlay bond,” Damon put a hand on her lower back, leading her into the den.

Nikita turned to look at her friend oddly as she sat down, “What about it?”

Damon moved to sit on the couch across from her and Caroline joined him. After Stefan’s description of the vampire, Caroline was weary and wanted the support Damon offered. “I might… have one,” the brunet spoke awkwardly. The woman blinked in surprise before bursting out laughing causing Damon to scowl. “It’s not that funny.”

Nikita forced herself to calm down, turning to look at the blonde, “I assume this is her?” She gave the teen a once over, “I guess you could have done worse.” Caroline’s jaw dropped at the insult but Damon quickly gave her thigh a warning squeeze. The blonde quickly squashed her indignation, not wanting to anger the old and scary vampire with the answers to their problems. “So, tell me what happened,” Nikita commanded, leaning back into the couch to get comfortable, clearly expecting a good story.

Damon had just finished giving the summarized version of how he had dated and compelled Caroline and then accidentally turned her when they heard the front door open once more.

“Kali?” Stefan asked in surprise, appearing in the hallway.

“Stefan!” Nikita smiled getting up and blurring to him, giving him a huge hug like she did with his brother. The minute she broke away, her face turned serious, “Are you single? Because I came here with the expectation of sex.”

Damon let out a small chuckle behind her as Stefan shook his head, both long used to Nikita’s blunt personality, “I have a girlfriend,” he grinned.

“Damn it,” She cursed, turning to Damon, “What the hell, Salvatore!”

“Don’t worry,” He walked up to her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms soothingly, “We’ll find you some nice, attractive guys for you to fuck. And bonus, you can also eat them.” He smirked when Nikita pouted but agreed, “Besides, I’m bound to Blondie. Doesn’t mean we’re together.”

Nikita gave him a searching look knowing that he cared more about the girl than he pretended. She was about to make a comment to that affect when a throat cleared itself from behind them. It was only then that Nikita realized that someone had entered the house with Stefan. Turning to look at the girl, Nikita’s eyes widened. Knowing what she was thinking, Damon interrupted her thoughts, “It’s not Katherine. Her name is Elena.”

“A doppelganger?” Nikita asked in surprise.

“You know about me?” Elena replied in confusion.

The group segued back into the den, “Nikki was also a friend of Katherine’s,” Damon explained as he made himself a drink.

Nikita allowed a cruel smirk to cross her lips, “And she tells me you finally figured out she wasn’t trapped in the tomb.”

The two brothers froze and turned to look at her, “You knew she wasn’t in there?” Stefan asked in surprise. When Nikita nodded, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

The brunette shrugged, “She asked me not to.”

Damon groaned and leaned forward to hit his head against the wall. After letting out a sigh, he picked up the three glasses and handed one to Stefan and Nikita, leaving the last for himself. “Have I mentioned how much I hate that loyalty thing you have going on?”

Taking a sip of her drink, Nikita cocked her head to the side, “I could always stop being loyal to you.” She hadn’t even finished her sentence before both brothers were shaking their heads no.

“I meant, I wished your line wasn’t so… strict,” Damon said before turning to explain to the two girls who were clearly confused, “Nikita has a lot of friends and not all of them get along. So, to keep herself out of fights, she helps the person who asks her first. Katherine asked her not to say anything, so she didn’t, even though we’re friends.”

“And in contrast, if Damon had asked me if Katherine was alive before she asked me to keep my mouth shut, I would have told him the truth, even though Katherine is my friend,” Nikita finished, “But I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here for the bond. Or at least I assume so since it doesn’t appear as though I’m here for sex.”

Damon let out a little chuckle and Stefan shook his head in exasperation. “Yes, that’s why you’re here,” Damon nodded, before sobering up for a minute, “Although… what do you know about werewolf bites?” He asked.

Stefan and Elena looked at him in confusion, but Caroline just smiled in somber understanding. Nikita looked at him in surprise, “I know they’re lethal to a vampire.”

“There’s no cure?” He asked persistently. The woman visibly hesitated, “So there is one!” He crowed triumphantly, “You have to help me. What is it?”

“Are you bitten?” She asked skeptically, still not answering his question.

Stefan and Elena looked at Damon in instant worry only to be relieved when he shook his head, “No. My… friend. Rose.”

Nikita sat silently as she internally debated how to answer, “There is a cure, but you will never be able to get it,” She finally spoke.

“There has to be a way,” Damon argued. He paused before adding on, “please.”

Nikita blinked up at him in slight surprise, “You must like her,” She smiled softly, “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you how and even if I did, I doubt you’d be willing to pay the price. Or perhaps more accurately, your brother would be unwilling to pay it.”

“What do you mean?” Stefan asked wearily.

“The price for the cure would most probably be the death of the doppelganger,” Nikita answered.

“So Klaus has the cure,” Elena easily pieced together.

The older vampire hummed before shrugging, “I suppose you could say that,” She replied vaguely, not getting more specific, “That’s all I’m going to say on that,” she warned.

Damon opened his mouth to argue but shut it at her warning. He knew better than to try and push Nikki. The harder one pushed her, the more she dug her feet in. “Is there any other cure?” He asked, a tiny sliver of desperation in his voice.

Elena looked over at Caroline, wondering how the blonde was handling Damon’s obvious affection for someone else. She was surprised to see Caroline equally concerned for Rose. Elena let a small smile cross her lips. She shouldn’t be surprised. Caroline had the biggest heart of anyone she knew.

Once again, Nikita hesitated, “Not that I know of,” She answered honestly.

“Would a werewolf know of one?” He asked instead.

“I’m not a werewolf,” She replied, “I don’t know, Damon. I only know of one cure and that’s through Klaus. I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”


	5. Chapter 5

“I think you loved her,” Nikita spoke softly as she walked around the abandoned car, fingertips trailing the cool steel in thought, “Maybe you weren’t in love, but you definitely cared for her at the very least.”

Damon stared despondently at the dead body to his right before taking a swig from the bottle Nikita had brought him. “And you didn’t help me save her,” He spat bitterly.

She sat on the hood of the car and stared down at him, “Are you telling me you would have been willing to pay the price? Elena’s life for Rose’s?”

“There would have been another way,” He argued drunkenly, taking another sip.

“Klaus wants one thing; the doppelganger. There would have been no other deals,” She replied easily, “Oh, look. Another car is coming,” She said simply. Nikita was unsurprised when the other person stopped.

“Is everything okay?” The driver asked worriedly as he surveyed the splayed body in the street.

“Not really,” Nikita grinned blurring up to the man, “You see, I have this problem. I’m hungry,” She answered as she dove in for the bite, ignoring the man’s screams in her ear. She only stopped when the man dropped to the ground, passed out from blood loss.

“You should clean that up,” Damon said from behind her, “Mystic Falls is very vampire trigger happy. It won’t take much to get them on the case of the new resident if he talks.”

The Indian woman hummed in thought before reaching down and snapping the human’s neck, “Problem solved. Now he won’t talk.”

Damon snorted as he got up, leaning on the first victim’s car unsteadily, “And the body?”

Nikita stared at him blankly causing him to sigh. Nikki had never been one for subtlety. Where ever she went, a trail of bodies tended to follow. She was too old and too powerful for anyone to mess with so she just left her messes for others to clean up.

“Come on,” He said, heaving his victim over his shoulder, “We’ll bury them together.”

“The couple that kills together, stays together,” She laughed, picking up her own kill and following Damon deep into the woods where they buried the two bodies together, “Aw, romantic,” She smiled sarcastically.

Damon rolled his eyes, his vampire healing removing the last traces of the alcohol he had been drinking. The two made their way to the cars still in the middle of the road, “We’ll drive them out of town to ditch them,” He explained as he started the car and drove down the highway.

It didn’t take long for Nikita to get bored and pull up beside Damon’s car, driving on the wrong side of the road. She rolled down her passenger side window and Damon rolled his eyes and did the same to his window, “I’m sorry,” She said.

“For what?” He asked in annoyance.

“Even if I had contacted Klaus and by some miracle, he agreed to hand over the cure… It never would have gotten here in time,” Nikita answered solemnly.

Damon was silent for a moment before he spoke, “I know.”

She nibbled on her lip before repeating herself, “So, I’m sorry for your loss.”

He stayed silent for a moment before deciding to change the subject, “We never finished talking about the bond. What do you know about it?” Damon asked.

“Not much,” She readily admitted, “I’ll have to do a little research. You and the blonde will have to come in for one of my little experiment tests.”

“The blonde’s name is Caroline,” Damon rolled his eyes knowing that while he called Caroline Blondie and Barbie as annoying nicknames, Nikki had simply just forgotten her name.

“Yeah, whatever,” the dark girl said dismissively, “I’ll probably tell you to think of something and ask her to tell me what you’re thinking about and vice versa. Then emotions, then physical sensations… Simple tests like that.”

Damon nodded in agreement. They sounded pretty reasonable and he trusted Nikita… mostly… sometimes… when it suited her... Well, he trusted her to help him with the bond at least. “So, what do you know about Klaus?” He asked curiously.

Nikita looked at him out of the corner of her eye, “I ask a question, you ask a question?” She offered, “We both answer honestly, but also can opt out of answering no problems?”

“Done,” He grinned, well used to her games, “What do you know about Klaus?” He asked again.

“A lot,” She replied belligerently, “Be more specific, Damon. You know you can’t ask open ended questions like that. You just wasted your first question.”

He shrugged easily. They still had all night and plenty of driving to do. He had more than enough chances to ask better ones.

“Does Stefan love Elena?” She asked curiously.

“Still trying to get in my brother’s pants?” Damon chuckled, “Yes.”

Nikita laughed, “Was that your question? I’m always trying to get into Stefan’s pants. And his bed. And his shower. And his-”

Damon grimaced, “I got it, thanks. No, that was not my question,” He got serious as he thought about what to ask, “You said that the cure wouldn’t have been able to make it here in time. Does that mean you know where Klaus is?”

“Yes,” She replied, “Why do you care so much about him?”

“Elena needs to be protected,” He answered, “Where is he?”

“Can’t answer. Ask a different question,” Nikita offered.

“Why are you protecting him?” Damon tried again.

Nikita hesitated as she thought about how to answer. Damon eyed her as he waited for her response. Normally, Nikki’s answers were immediate and honest. But if she was thinking about her answers then it meant that she was thinking about how much to tell and how to word it so that she was being honest without giving away too much. It usually meant that her answers, while true, would also be misleading. “I owe him a lot,” She finally answered, “He has helped me many times throughout the years and he is a good friend.”

Damon turned her answer over in his mind. There was nothing particularly misleading as far as he could tell. Then again, he never knew he was being misled by Nikita until she wanted him to know it. Sill, it appeared like she had simply taken so long to answer in an effort to decide how much to tell him and how specific to be which turned out to be not very specific at all.

“Are you in love with Elena?” Nikita asked suddenly.

His head swirled to look at her. Luckily he was saved from having to answer immediately by an oncoming truck. Nikki had to swerve back into the correct lane as it passed her by before she returned to her original position.

Damon thought about his answer in silence. He could lie but he had learned early on in his friendship with Nikita that lying when he was supposed to be telling the truth would do nothing but piss her off and cause her to lie right back. The difference was that her lies usually came around to bite him in the ass. She was vindictive like that. “Yes,” He finally answered with a sigh. “If it came down to me or Klaus, who would you pick?”

Once again, Nikita hesitated, “Pick a different question,” She replied even though she knew that by saying that she was already giving away her answer. If she was going to pick Damon, she would have just said so. By avoiding the subject, she was telling him that she would pick Klaus.

“Can I trust you?” Damon asked, almost sadly. Clearly, losing Rose had made him not only sad, but lonely as well. He wanted reassurance that he still had his best friend.

”Always,” She grinned softly. “How about this? I’m Switzerland,” Nikita offered, “I won’t help you with Klaus but when he shows up – which he inevitably will, don’t bother fooling yourself – I won’t help him either. I’m here for one thing and that’s your overlay bond.”

“Deal,” Damon snapped up as quickly as he could. He knew that this deal was as good as he was going to get. To be honest, it was a lot more than he expected. Nikita was one of his oldest friends; his best friend, really. And he was very close to her in return. So for her to choose Klaus over Damon… he knew that he was going to be in hot water. An offer of neutrality was quite honestly a miracle.

“How do you feel about Caroline?” Nikita asked.

Once more, Damon paused as he thought on his answer, “She’s a pain. She’s annoying and whiny, but she’s strong. Stronger than I realized at first. And she cares… about everyone. I… like her,” He hesitated to answer, “I’m fond of her,” He clarified.

Nikita let a slow grin overcome her face, “I know,” She admitted, “I just wanted to see if you realized that.”

Damon rolled his eyes with a grin before pulling over to the side of the road, “We’ll leave them here. Crash your car into mine,” He ordered which he immediately regretted when she drove her car harshly into his. He was unharmed, but more than a little jarred which he knew was done on purpose. Nikita didn’t like being bossed around.

As they raced back to Mystic Falls, Damon couldn’t help but ponder the questions Nikita asked. She could have simply been curious, but experience said that Nikita was never just curious. She always had a plan; always had some sort of agenda. The question was how did Caroline and Elena fit into that?


End file.
